1887 Four Base Hits Set and Checklist

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Four Base Hits
Year	1887
Size	2 1/4″ x 3 7/8″
Images	Sepia
Type	19th Century Tobacco
Number in Set	18

1887 Four Base Hits Overview

The 1887 Four Base Hits set is another rare 19th Century tobacco card issue.

The set includes various baseball players with the familiar sepia tone used in other N-card issues. A player image, name, and position are on the front of the card along with the brief advertisement “Smoke Four Base Hits” at the bottom. Backs of the cards are blank.

The cards were apparently so rare that they were not known to master collector Jefferson Burdick, who did not catalog them in his American Card Catalog.

To date, very few of these have been found. And when they turn up, they can be found in obscure places and not in traditional collections. One of only two John Clarkson cards known to date, for example, was found in 2015 in a Bible. Several of the cards have only one or two known examples.

According to SGC’s population report, the card supposedly picturing Tido Daily actually pictures player turned legendary preacher Billy Sunday.